Reversal of fortune for Macri, Morris
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter Caleb Morris of Waynesburg (right) holds off Jimmy Hoffman of Hazelton during their 132-pound bout in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Thursday. Hoffman won a 3-0 decision.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter Logan Macri of Canon-McMillan has his right leg twisted at a dangerous angle during his 120-pound bout with Luke Resnick of Owen J. Roberts in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Thursday. Macri won an 11-3 decision.
HERSHEY – Funny how situations change in just a few days.
In Saturday’s finals of the WPIAL Wrestling Championships, Logan Macri suffered a difficult overtime loss to Vince Destefanis of Hempfield in a bout in which he dominated the action.
Two weight classes later, Caleb Morris put the finishing touches on his second WPIAL gold medal with a 2-0 decision over Hunter Baxter of Pine Richland at 132 pounds.
Five days later, it was Macri celebrating an impressive victory in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Championships and Morris wearing a stunned look after being eliminated on the first day.
Macri cruised to an 11-3 major decision over Luke Resnick of Owen J. Roberts in the first round at the Giant Center in Hershey and led a pretty good charge by local wrestlers.
Two of Macri’s teammates, Gerrit Nijenhuis (152) and Brendan Furman (Hvy), had impressive first-round victories and moved into today’s quarterfinals at 2:15 p.m. Semifinals are at 9 a.m. Saturday, followed by the finals at 7 p.m.
The top eight wrestlers in each weight class win medals.
Macri scored five second-period points to break open the match against Resnick, a third-place finisher in the Southeast Region.
“This bout put me back on the mat and it was a fun match,” said Macri. “It didn’t take long to get over last week’s match. There was nothing to look back on, just mental toughness. … I wanted to come back strong.”
Macri now will face top-seeded Julian Chlebove, a defending state champion from Northampton in the quarterfinals. Chlebove brings a 35-1 record against Macri, who is 39-6.
“I like where I am in the bracket,” said Macri. “It doesn’t matter who you have; you have to beat someone good to be in the finals.”
Nijenhuis, only a freshman, disposed of A.J. Wilson of Solanco in 5:10 to run his record to 42-6. Next up is third-seed Carter Starocci, a sophomore from Cathedral Prep who is a Northwest Region champion with a 43-2 record.
Furman returned to his pinning ways, sticking Oscar Daniels of Exeter in 1:13. The fourth-seeded Furman, coming off a WPIAL title last weekend, will wrestle Hunter Gill of Holidaysburg in the quarterfinals. Gill is a Northwest Region runner-up with a 30-5 record.
Morris had a tough draw in Jimmy Hoffman of Hazelton, a state runner-up last season who was upset in the finals of Northeast Region Tournament by K.J. Fenstermacher of Northampton. He lost, 5-0.
It got worse when Morris was pinned in 2:27 by Tommy Traver of Tunkhannock in the first round of consolations.
“It’s always a challenge coming off a loss and having another one. But that’s where mental toughness comes in,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton before the consolation round. “The other guy has got to do the exact same thing. We knew we had very tough draws in the first round. Everyone is good at the state tournament.”
Matt Oblock of Canon-McMillan lost his 126-pound preliminary bout but pinned his opponent in the first round of consolations.
Kyle Homet was eliminated after two losses at 170, leaving only Colin McCracken in 195-pound wrestlebacks for Waynesburg.
Three wrestlers from Belle Vernon – Brock Godzin (152), Zach Hartman (160) and Bill Korber (220) – are in the quarterfinals.